Intelligent Communications vision

We’ve enjoyed great success across Office 365 with over 155M monthly commercial active users counting on Office 365 to get their work done. We are now aiming to bring the capabilities of Skype for Business in the cloud into Teams to deliver a single hub for teamwork, with built-in, fully integrated voice and video. By tightly weaving communications into the apps teams use to collaborate every day, alongside AI, Microsoft Graph, LinkedIn, and other data and cognitive services, we are enabling Intelligent Communications by revolutionizing calling and meeting experiences.

Why are you planning on bringing Skype for Business and Teams together?

As users are working on more teams, we see the opportunity to more seamlessly integrate our communication capabilities into Teams so users can have a single place for their conversations, contacts, and content. We believe Teams also provides a modern cloud infrastructure that enables us to take advantage of our assets for artificial intelligence, such as AI, Microsoft Graph, and LinkedIn, to deliver intelligent communications. With Teams, we’re creating new experiences for meetings and calling, including preparation, delivery, and follow-up.

Is there a firm deadline by which customers need to move from Skype for Business Online to Teams?

In effort to support smaller customers that may not have dedicated IT resources, Microsoft is assisting with automated upgrades from Skype for Business Online to Teams. Eligible customers will be notified of the upgrade through emails and Message Center notifications. Additional details are provided in the communications.

What is the future of Skype for Business Server?

We recognize that customers are using Skype for Business Server and many need to continue to use Skype for Business on-premises for some users or geographies due to their requirements. In these instances, we encourage organizations to adopt Teams in conjunction with Skype for Business on-premises to drive teamwork and collaboration as well as integration with other productivity apps. The latest version of Skype for Business Server 2019 was released in October 2018.

What will happen to the Skype brand?

We remain committed to the overall Skype brand, which represents a family of communications capabilities across our consumer and commercial segments. Skype remains the product name for our consumer offer and Skype for Business remains as the product name for the on-premises server. The Skype brand will also surface in voice and video experiences within Teams.

What are the benefits of Teams' back-end infrastructure?

Supported by the new Skype back-end infrastructure, Teams is built for the cloud on a highly scalable microservices architecture that’s efficient in bandwidth consumption, provides more robust telemetry, and enables maintenance and upgrades with minimal disruption. As a result, users will see faster meeting join times and a better browser experience without needing to download plug-ins. This modern infrastructure makes it easy to tap into Microsoft Cognitive Services—which include transcription, translation, speech recognition, and machine learning capabilities—and have the power to make communication and collaboration easier and more effective.

What does this mean for existing Office 365 customers?

We’re bringing the key set of Skype for Business capabilities in Office 365 into Teams over time along with new voice, video, and meetings innovation. We encourage all Office 365 customers to start using Teams today, whether independently or side-by-side with Skype for Business.

Will you continue to invest in improving Skype for Business Online?

Our vision for bringing together Intelligent Communications and collaboration is focused on Teams. We plan to continue to support the Skype for Business service and client in Office 365. We plan to continue to support the Skype for Business clients to access on-premises server and online services. There is no end-of-support date at this time.

Starting October 1, 2018, new Office 365 customers with fewer than 500 seats will be onboarded to Teams and will not have access to Skype for Business Online. Tenants already using Skype for Business Online will be able to continue doing so (including provisioning new users) until they complete their transition to Teams. To learn more please read Microsoft Teams is now the primary client for meetings and calling in Office 365.

What do you recommend for customers who are currently in the process of deploying—or planning to deploy—Skype for Business in Office 365?

Customers should evaluate the Microsoft 365 Roadmap to determine whether capabilities will meet business needs and timing requirements. If so, they should adjust their strategy to deploy Teams only. Planning and infrastructure investments such as network assessments will accrue to Teams deployment. We encourage all new Office 365 customers to start using Teams, independently of or in parallel with Skype for Business.

What support are you offering customers who want to move to Teams, especially those who have made significant investments in Skype for Business Online?

Customers may continue to use Skype for Business Online until Teams meets their business needs. We’ll assist customers who want to move users to Teams with tools and guidance to control and manage the process. Prescriptive guidance and best practices will be available at https://aka.ms/Skype2Teams. We’ll help ease the transition for users new to Teams with a specialized first-run experience and in-product coach marks. FastTrack, instructor-led training, customer support, and partners will be available to help guide customers through the transition.

What does this mean from a licensing perspective? How will customers pay for Intelligent Communications services in Teams?

Teams is available in Office 365 suites. Capabilities that are premium workloads in Skype for Business Online today will continue to be premium workloads in Teams. Existing licensing investments made by customers will carry forward to Teams. For example, if a customer has purchased Audio Conferencing standalone or as part of E5 with Skype for Business, Audio Conferencing will be enabled in Teams as it’s available today.

Is Microsoft planning scheduled upgrades?

Currently, we have no plans to schedule upgrades for enterprise customers. Customers can choose to move to Teams as the capabilities meet their business needs. We’ll empower administrators and users with tools and guidance to assist them in the transition to Teams.

In effort to support smaller customers that may not have dedicated IT resources, Microsoft is assisting with automated upgrades from Skype for Business Online to Teams. Eligible customers will be notified of the upgrade through emails and Message Center notifications. Additional details are provided in the communications.

Skype for Business to Teams upgrade

How long will it take to upgrade my organization to Teams?

Your organization's journey from Skype for Business to Teams can be defined by you. To assist in your planning and execution, you can choose from two core upgrade paths, Upgrade Basic and Upgrade Pro. Upgrade Basic is for smaller organizations or those with low Skype for Business adoption or core workloads such as IM, and is designed to upgrade your entire organization to Teams at once. Upgrade Pro is for organizations with expanded functionality who’d benefit from a more phased upgrade approach. Review both paths to determine the optimal approach for your organization.

Why don’t I see a “Teams Only” mode in the Microsoft Teams admin center?

We’ll be enabling this mode over the coming weeks. Further, you’ll see additional coexistence modes lighting up, enabling your organization to manage the Skype for Business to Teams journey that’s right for your organization. Learn more about the coexistence and upgrade modes that are available or will be available soon.

What does it mean to have Teams “be ready” for my organization?

As an existing Skype for Business customer, you’ll know Teams is ready when it meets the Skype for Business functionality that’s currently enabled and active in your organization. Aligning your upgrade with the availability of relevant functionality will help ease your users’ transition from Skype for Business to Teams. In addition to understanding when Teams might be ready for your organization, you also want to plan for your organization’s readiness for Teams, from validating technical readiness to implementing a user readiness and acceptance strategy.

What should I do to prepare for my upgrade?

A successful upgrade will include validating technical readiness in addition to user acceptance readiness. Even if you determine your organization isn’t quite ready to upgrade to Teams, you can begin the planning process today. Further, you can start realizing the value of Teams by enabling Teams alongside Skype for Business. Get started on your Skype to Teams journey today.

My organization is already running Teams alongside Skype for Business. Can I just disable Skype for Business?

No, you'll want to switch users to Teams Only mode to complete the upgrade to Teams. If your organization is ready to upgrade to Teams, take time to communicate to users to let them know what’s happening and allow them to acclimate to Teams. This will help ensure they have a positive upgrade experience and help alleviate calls to your helpdesk. For sample communication templates, download our Upgrade Success Kit.

Who can I contact if I have questions about the upgrade process?

For questions related to your upgrade, reach out to your current points of contact, which might include your assigned Microsoft account team, partner, or FastTrack. Alternatively, you can open a help ticket from within your Microsoft Teams admin center.

Do I upgrade all users on my tenant together, or can I opt to upgrade select users at a time?

You have the flexibility to upgrade users as Teams meets your needs, whether it’s individuals, groups of users, or your entire organization. To help understand the optimal approach for your organization, review the various coexistence and upgrade modes that you can enable.

What happens after my users are upgraded?

After your users are upgraded to Teams (Teams only mode):

Their Skype for Business client will be disabled for use as all chat and calls will go to Teams. This client will continue to be used for previously scheduled Skype for Business meetings. If this desktop client is uninstalled, users will be redirected to access previously scheduled Skype for Business meetings via the Skype for Business web app.

Any Skype for Business meetings scheduled before the upgrade will work as designed, but all new meetings will be scheduled in Teams.

If users attempt to sign in to Skype for Business, they’ll get a notification from their client that they’ve been upgraded to Teams.

Users will need to manually uninstall the Skype for Business client on their mobile device.

Will users still be able to use Skype for Business after I activate the upgrade notification in their client?

Yes. The upgrade notification will simply alert users that Skype for Business will be upgrading to Teams and invite them to get started with Teams, if they haven’t already. We recommend complementing this notification with an awareness campaign (emails, FAQs, helpdesk readiness, posters/signage) to communicate further details specific to your organization, such as timing for the upgrade, calls-to-action for the user, access to training, and so on. For communication templates, download our Upgrade Success Kit.

Skype to Teams Roadmap

How can customers learn when Skype for Business capabilities will be available in Teams?

Which APIs and SDKs will be made available for Teams?

Will you support third-party development opportunities in Teams?

Yes, app integration is one of the key benefits of adopting Teams. We currently support third-party bots, connectors, and extensions in Teams. In addition, we have a large ecosystem of add-ins available in the Microsoft Teams app store.

Is Teams available in Office 365 Education?

Teams is available in all Office 365 for Education suite licensing: Education, Education Plus, and Education E5, in addition to existing Education E3 customers who purchased E3 before it was retired.

Do you have plans to offer Teams in the government community cloud (GCC)?

Additional information on Teams availability for the US Government Cloud Community (GCC) can be found here.

Calling capabilities

What is the plan for Microsoft’s online voice capabilities?

We’ve added our currently available Phone System (formerly known as Cloud PBX) and calling capabilities to Teams. In addition, there are some features that were formerly only available in Skype for Business Server that are now available in Microsoft Teams. Additional information can be found here.

What is the guidance for customers already deployed on Phone System (Cloud PBX) in Skype for Business Online?

Customers should evaluate the Teams roadmap to determine when capabilities will meet their business needs. We encourage all Office 365 customers to start using Teams, independently of or in parallel with Skype for Business.

When will hybrid customers be able to move to Teams?

We’ve simplified how customers connect trunks or third-party telephony systems to Office 365, based on customer feedback. For calling, customers interested in bringing their own telephone service to Teams can now do so with the general availability of Direct Routing. Direct Routing and Calling Plans are the two choices for dial tone in Microsoft Teams.

Messaging capabilities

Will people-centric conversations be available in the new client?

One of the advantages of using Teams is that users gain access to new communication features. All chat is people-centric in Teams. Users can easily review their entire history of chat with other users from their client or browser. Searches are easier to execute.

Meeting capabilities

Is Audio Conferencing coverage in Teams different in Skype for Business?

There are no plans to support third-party audio conferencing providers (ACP) in Teams. We believe the best audio conferencing experience for customers using Teams and Skype for Business will be to use our Audio Conferencing services in Office 365 (formerly PSTN Conferencing). Customers who need to leverage our ACP support in Skype for Business meetings can continue to use their Skype for Business client. Meetings scheduled within the Teams client will only support the Audio Conferencing services of Office 365.

What’s the plan for video interoperability support for Teams meetings?

Will the latest generation of Skype Room Systems v2 support meetings in Teams?

We continue supporting the momentum of Skype Room Systems. A Skype Room Systems update is available to join Teams meetings, in addition to the ability for users to identify nearby Skype Room Systems with proximity detection. Dual screens and panoramic devices are planned for later releases.

Will Skype Room Systems v1 be updated to support Teams meetings?

Skype Room Systems v1 (also known as Lync Room Systems) will have an upgrade available that will allow these devices to join Teams meetings. As part of that upgrade process, we’ll also upgrade these devices from Windows 7 to Windows 10 to further secure the devices. For those devices that use touchscreens, you’ll lose access to touch features and features such as inking, PowerPoint annotation, and Whiteboarding, and front-of-room touch to start a meeting will stop working.

Management capabilities

What’s planned for new management experiences?

Microsoft has launched the Microsoft Teams admin center for IT pros within the Office 365 Admin Center. Like the Skype for Business Admin Console, this new portal will be a single place to administer our new experiences. The initial release of the portal, targeted for the first quarter of 2018, is designed to support administration through an enterprise-ready policy model for Teams-only customers, replacing the existing administration interface for Teams. With this portal, we’ll be able to create custom presence, chat, app, meeting, and voice policies and assign those policies to Teams users.